KANDIYOHI COUNTY, Minn. — A central Minnesota sheriff’s deputy is accused of crash his police car last month while driving under the influence of alcohol.
Christopher Flatten, 39, a Kandiyohi County police deputy, was charged last Wednesday with fourth-degree driving under the influence of alcohol (a misdemeanor) and third-degree refusing to submit to a driving test (a felony).
According to the criminal complaint, authorities were dispatched to a crash involving a police car with a uniformed officer inside on County Road 4, near the intersection of First Avenue East in Gennesee Township, around 6:21 p.m. on July 18.
Upon arrival, emergency responders found Flatten unresponsive in the vehicle, which had rolled several times in a field, according to court documents.
According to the sheriff’s office, Flatten was extricated from the vehicle and taken by helicopter to a hospital. He was treated for injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening.
One witness told investigators he saw Flatten’s police car run a stop sign and weave “all over the road,” crossing the center and fog lines and pulling onto the shoulder before the crash, the complaint said. Another witness said he saw the police car roll into the shoulder five or six times.
Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office
According to investigators, the markings on the road, the verge, the ditch and the field matched what the witnesses had described.
While he was in the hospital, the charges allege that a state trooper informed Flatten that they had obtained a search warrant for his blood. Flatten allegedly refused the sample, which is considered a crime.
According to the criminal complaint, during that conversation, the officer noticed he smelled an “odor of alcoholic beverage” coming from Flatten and that he had slurred speech and bloodshot, glassy eyes.
Kandiyohi County Sheriff Eric Tollefson said Flatten has been on critical incident leave since the crash and will remain on that leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation and criminal proceedings. He said he is “deeply concerned” about the allegations in the indictments.
“They do not reflect or align with the values of our office, the character of our deputies, or the expectations of the people we serve,” Tollefson said. “We take this situation seriously and are cooperating with the investigating authorities.”
Tollefson would not say whether Flatten was on duty at the time of the crash.
